System maintenance and support of running systems
SWUS Test workflow
Transporting transport orders from one system line to another or importing third-party transport orders into the SAP system is also an occasional task for an SAP basis administrator. As in my last blog post on system modifiability, I would like to offer you a way to quickly present this topic. So you will find a step-by-step guide which you can follow if you have already understood the content of the topic, but only the steps need to be taken. What are the requirements? Transport orders include two files, titled "data" and "cofiles". These files consist of a six-character alphanumeric combination and a file extension, which often represents the system from which the files were exported. The first character is always a K (the cofiles file) or an R (the data file). For our example we call the files K12345_DEV and R12345_DEV. These files are of course needed for an import into your own SAP system. Furthermore, you need access to the file system or the SAP directories, as they have to insert the above files there manually. In addition, the transaction STMS is required in the SAP system because it attaches the transport orders to the import queue. Now, if you have all of this available, we can start with the import: What is the procedure? Operating System Level Preparation. The first step is to copy the files to the transport directory of the SAP system. This is usually below /usr/sap/trans, but can be changed individually depending on the system. If you want to make sure that you are working in the correct directory, you can look in the transaction AL11 to see which directory is specified under "DIR_TRANS". This is the right directory to work on. Here the existing files are copied into it, namely the cofiles file (K12345_DEV) in the cofiles folder (/usr/sap/trans/cofiles) and the data file (R12345_DEV) in the data folder (/usr/sap/trans/data). Note: In this case, especially for companies with multiple systems on multiple servers, the access permissions and the file owner need to be changed so that the import in the target system does not cause problems.
At best, for the time in which an emergency user is in service, a separate log of the activities undertaken is written, which can then be evaluated. In the following chapter I would like to explain our best practice approach to implementing an emergency user concept. Our approach to using an emergency user concept We have had good experience with the use of the Xiting Authorizations Management Suite (XAMS) in this area. This suite consists of various modules for creating role concepts, managing permissions including a permission concept, and also enables the implementation of an emergency user concept. XAMS works here with a limited time assignment of reference users with extended privileges to enable the emergency user concept. A self-service application may be made with a justification and a period for allocating special rights. The application window is illustrated in an example in the following screenshot: Evaluation of the use of the Emergency User Concept Once this request has been initiated, a new mode will be opened for the user, in which he can work with the extended rights. In addition, depending on the configuration, a stored workflow can be initiated as an approval process, or pre-defined controllers will be notified by email to verify activities. Once the session has ended with the emergency user, the responsible persons will receive another email with the logged activity of the user with the extended permissions. One of these logs is shown in the next screenshot: These logs can also be viewed in the system. Here you will get an overview of all the sessions that have been run. In addition, it is possible to approve activities with special rights after an evaluation. This allows the controller to get an overview of the activities undertaken with the emergency user. If you are using this Emergency User Concept and following these steps, you can ensure: Each user on the production system retains his or her original necessary rights.
ITIL
The presentation layer is the top layer of the R/3 SAP Basis system and includes the communication with the user. Here, the data is graphically prepared for the user on the end device by means of software components from the application programs of the application layer. The presentation layer is the interface to the user (SAP GUI).
The decision to outsource a task or service should be taken not only in terms of cost, but also by assessing the competitive differentiation and strategic importance. Characteristics for describing the costs are the specificity of the task and the embossing by unit cost degression, i.e. decreasing costs with increasing number of tasks or performance. Of strategic importance are, in particular, those tasks and services which are difficult to imitate by competing companies. Figure 4 compares the strategic importance and cost advantages in order to arrive at fundamentally valid statements regarding the usefulness of outsourcing for certain IT tasks and services. In addition to this, as already discussed by Recommendation [A2], it is then worthwhile to establish a catalogue of criteria for evaluating and looking in detail at certain characteristics of the application or services. An exemplary catalogue of criteria can be found in chapter 9.6 of the Master thesis. Figure 4: IT Outsourcing Decision Matrix THE DECISION TO OUTSOURCE A TASK OR PERFORMANCE SHOULD BE MADE NOT ONLY IN TERMS OF COSTS BUT ALSO BY ASSESSING COMPETITION DIFFERENTIATION AND STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE.
"Shortcut for SAP Systems" is a PC application that simplifies or even facilitates many activities in the SAP base.
Here are some of the key differences:
The corresponding programmes are not generated until they are called.